Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Fraud
Some of largest recoveries under the False Claims Act have arisen from pharmaceutical and medical device misconduct. Reese Marketos’s Josh Russ gained valuable knowledge and experience in this area while serving as the Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) Coordinator and later as Civil Chief for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas.
As ACE Coordinator, Josh oversaw and directed most of the Eastern District’s False Claims Act and civil Controlled Substances Act investigations and litigation. In less than five years, Josh’s work contributed to the recovery of more than $85 million in settlements, suspensions, and judgments on behalf of American taxpayers. Josh was also named the Eastern District’s Civil Healthcare Fraud Coordinator, where he worked to develop the district’s parallel proceedings practices in accordance with Department of Justice policy.
While serving as the Civil Chief, Josh Russ was appointed co-chair of the Department of Justice Prescription Interdiction and Litigation (PIL) Task Force. In this role, Josh Russ pursued civil investigations involving the nation’s opioid epidemic, some of which were later chronicled in several newspapers and online publications.
Common Types of Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Fraud
The most common types of pharmaceutical and medical device fraud involve:
- Paying bribes and kickbacks to prescribers;
- Misuse of the 340B drug discount program;
- Medicaid best price fraud;
- Medicare Part D fraud;
- Off-label promotion and marketing;
- Fraud by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)
- Providing inaccurate or incomplete data to the FDA regarding the safety, health risks, or efficacy of products; and
- Compounding pharmacy fraud.